STAUNTON - Leah Calhoun had almost given up on the idea of playing college basketball. The Buffalo Gap senior was tired of all the practices and games. After years of travel ball in addition to her high school games, Calhoun was suffering basketball burnout.

And then Ross James walked into the gym.

It was during a Gap scrimmage before this past season began. Calhoun noticed him — "He was this nice dressed dude," she said — taking notes, but didn't pay much attention past that. She knew he was probably part of some college program, but she wasn't going to play in college so it didn't matter.

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Leah Calhoun (22) will be one of three former Buffalo Gap Bison to play basketball for Mary Baldwin University next season.(Photo: Mike Tripp/The News Leader)

"I didn't know who he was and, at that point, I didn't really care," she said.

James also showed up at the next Gap practice and, afterward, pulled Calhoun and her teammate, Hannah Varner, aside to talk. He told them he was the new Mary Baldwin University basketball coach and he was interested in them coming to play for him.

"I learned, just from that hour with him, I liked him," Calhoun said. "I could tell he knows the game. I could tell he would definitely work with me and make me better."

So, just like that, Calhoun decided to give college basketball a try. And, as it turns out, so will Varner. Despite missing most of the season with an ACL tear, she is ready to return to the court on the college level.

"The first time I talked with Coach James, he instantly made me feel comfortable with him," Varner said.

James came to Staunton following three years as an assistant for the Lafayette women's team. He was walking into a major rebuilding project. The Squirrels won just two games over the five years before James showed up. And they hadn't won double-digit games in a season since 2010.

Ross James is interested in recruiting locally as he heads into his second season at Mary Baldwin.(Photo: Courtesy of Scott Eyre/Mary Baldwin University)

But James saw potential to do something big.

"I thought this would be an amazing story," James said. "This really would be."

In his first year, James led Baldwin to just two wins, but one of those was a pretty amazing story. The Squirrels beat Methodist by a point in February, breaking a 102-game losing streak in USA South Conference play.

Kemper Snyder scored 16 points and had 12 rebounds in that game. Snyder is a Lee High graduate and was the only player this past season from the Staunton-Augusta County area on the Mary Baldwin roster.

"That was absolutely crazy," she said of that win. "It kind of opened people's eyes."

Snyder chose Mary Baldwin before James arrived. She had gone to basketball camps as the school when she was younger and liked the campus. She also liked staying close to home for college.

She described this season with James as a "roller coaster" where both sides — players and coach — had to size one another up. And the first time James spoke to Snyder and she heard his deep voice, she admitted it was a little intimidating.

Those 7 a.m. practices were tough also, but Snyder and the rest of the Baldwin players adjusted.

"He took us and turned us into a family," Snyder said. "Before him, we were separated."

Snyder is excited that she won't be the only townie on the team next season. In addition to Calhoun and Varner, former Gap standout Destiny Harper will also be part of the team after playing the 2016-17 season at Goldey-Beacom College in Delaware.

Mary Baldwin will also get another local player in Secret Bryant, who played high school basketball at Lee High and the Miller School before heading to Methodist University in North Carolina.

Now, she's coming home to continue her college playing career. Part of that has to do with James.

"He’s a very down-to-earth kind of guy," Bryant said. "He’s very easy to talk to and he plays the style of game I love to play."

James grew up in Dallas, Texas, and played high school basketball in Arkansas at Subiaco Academy. He is well-acquainted with the Division III level — where Mary Baldwin plays — after playing college ball at Millsaps in Jackson, Mississippi.

Now, in Staunton, he is busy building what he believes can be a winning program. Part of that will involve finding players in his own backyard.

"I think it's important for every program to recruit locally, as best as they can, to attempt to keep local talent here," James said. "That helps with putting fans in the stands. It creates a good environment."

Ross James was an assistant coach at Lafayette before taking over Mary Baldwin's program in 2017.(Photo: Courtesy of Scott Eyre/Mary Baldwin University)

He's already started making connections with high school coaches in the Augusta County area. He remembers one of the first schools mentioned to him when he arrived was Buffalo Gap, so he made it a point to visit the school and get to know the coach, Phillip Morgan.

"I was surprised that he contacted me," Morgan said. "I don't think that any other MBU coach has done this."

Morgan likes that strategy. In the past, he didn't see his players even considering Mary Baldwin as a choice. That was for a variety of reasons, he said, including a lack of interest from the university's coaching staff and a lack of success on the court.

"I think that he is changing the perception and culture of the program," Morgan said. "I feel excited that my former players and others are going to be part of something special there."